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UNF called more hospitable to LGBT students, staff

In survey, more LGBT students feel safe, accepted on the Jacksonville campus.

Dane Lindquist has only known the University of North Florida as a place with an LGBT Resource Center, an active Pride Club and a "Lavender Graduation" ceremony.

To Lindquist, UNF always has been a place where he feels safe and accepted. The 20-year-old junior identifies as queer, a term he considers more inclusive than the traditional labels of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. He's active in gay-rights advocacy and works as a student assistant in the resource center, and he said he's never felt unsafe or unwelcome in the two years he's spent at UNF.

As the student population changes, a new study shows that students consider the campus increasingly more tolerant. Nearly twice as many LGBT students rate the climate as accepting as they did five years ago, according to a study released last week by the LGBT Resource Center.

"I would hate to have to attend a school where I felt unsafe or felt a climate of homophobia," said Lindquist. "Since newer students are coming in, bringing a fresh perspective, things are improving."

The study surveyed more than 3,000 students and faculty of all sexual orientations at UNF last year and found more positives than the last survey in 2005, which was commissioned after UNF's Pride Club had to fight the Student Government for its right to funding. Since then, the college created the LGBT Resource Center, one of two full-time, staffed programs in the state that provides a safe space as well as training sessions for faculty and students.

Sexual orientation has been added to UNF's non-discrimination policy, and benefits were extended to domestic partners of faculty and staff members.

Rated better

Though problems with harassment and perceived bias persist, advocates and administrators saw good news in the overall direction the campus seems to be headed. Almost twice as many LGBT students rated the campus as very accepting or somewhat accepting last year than in 2005.

When LGBT students were asked how the environment has changed for them since they first got to UNF, 20 percent said it was better and about half said it stayed the same. Less than 1 percent thought it was worse.

About 15 percent of the student respondents in the survey identified with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual.

"The most important thing is that we've made significant progress," said Ryan Miller, coordinator of the LGBT Resource Center. "But the report also highlights our unfinished business."

The study recommendations include adding gender identity to UNF's non-discrimination policy, creating more options in housing assignments for LGBT students and establishing a formal process for reporting bias due to sexual orientation.

About 49 percent of LGBT students and two-thirds of faculty and staff reported at least one incident of harassment or bias, although a majority experienced the harassment off-campus in Jacksonville. Among the 62 LGBT employees who took the survey, 44 percent believed the environment is better and 39 percent felt it's stayed the same since they first arrived at UNF.

Seven in 10 of the LGBT staff, though, believed their sexual orientation would harm chances of a promotion.

'Major progress'

Tom Serwatka, the school's vice president/chief of staff, said he realizes bias may exist in some departments. But he believes he's proof that the administration sees no difference when it comes to openly gay staff, like himself.

"I see some major progress. I don't see perfection," he said. "But the university is open to looking at all these recommendations and seeing what can we realistically do."

Melissa Hirschman, a visiting assistant professor in the psychology department, said she's never had a hard time being open about her orientation at UNF, either. About 100 of her students took part in filming a video with her for the "It Gets Better" project, a website led by syndicated columnist Dan Savage filled with supportive messages for people struggling with their sexual orientation, spurred by a string of suicides among gay youth. Hirschman said she had the full support of the administration in filming the video.

She hopes to take part in establishing a faculty association for LGBT staff members. There's a generational gap, she acknowledges, that may explain why some faculty feel less safe expressing their orientation. But she thinks they owe it to their students to model good behavior and pride.

"If we want our students to be tolerant and accepting and confident in who they are as individuals, we need to do that," Hirschman said. "We need to be confident and accepting and tolerant of one another."